WIND CHANGES

by Olivia Manning

Book by 'OLIVIA MANNING, ISOBEL ENGLISH (INTRODUCTION)'

Genres: Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Olivia Manning CBE was a British novelist, poet, writer and reviewer. Her fiction and non-fiction, frequently detailing journeys and personal odysseys, were principally set in England, Ireland, Europe and the Middle East. She often wrote from her personal experience, though her books also demonstrate strengths in imaginative writing. Her books are widely admired for her artistic eye and vivid descriptions of place.
In August 1939 she married R.D. Smith ("Reggie"), a British Council lecturer posted in Bucharest, Romania, and subsequently in Greece, Egypt and Palestine as the Nazis over-ran Eastern Europe. Her experiences formed the basis for her best known work, the six novels making up "The Balkan Trilogy" and "The Levant Trilogy," known collectively as Fortunes of War. As she had feared, real fame only came after her death in 1980, when an adaptation of "Fortunes of War" was televised in 1987.

Reviews

[Cphe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feeling a tad deflated after finishing this novel. Couldn't feel any read affinity for the characters on the page even though they are well portrayed. A story about disconnection, loneliness and shattered hopes. Set in Ireland after the Easter uprising.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olivia Manning is probably best known now for her Balkan and Levant trilogies. I read The Balkan Trilogy a very long time ago, and have been meaning to re-read it for a while. The Wind Changes was sent to me this Christmas by my Librarything Virago secret Santa, and I enjoyed it a lot.

The setting for The Wind Changes is Ireland, 1921 – just before the Anglo-Irish truce. Olivia Manning’s mother was from Ulster, and she spent many holidays in Galway and Co. Clare with her cousins. The descriptions of the beach at Carrickmoy are those of someone who knew the area viewing it with the nostalgia that the distance a few years and childhood memories bring.

The novel opens as Elizabeth Dearborn a young art student and Arion, a middle-aged writer sit in a car in the mist awaiting the arrival of Sean Murtough at a pier in Ireland. Sean is an Irish republican rebel, Arion and Elizabeth sympathisers. Sean is young, but the Catholic rebels are looking to him to return Riordan their legendary leader from exile.

Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/...

[Jamaica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ✨ A different era of language and culture (1920’s Ireland). I enjoyed the flawed depths of the characters, and in Elizabeth’s ennui I found relatable sentiments of worrying about missed youth and yearning for connection.

“I thought once I could do so much that I’d never have time to do it all, and yet in all these years I’ve done nothing.”